Gearing.



G. F. GEB.

GEARING.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9, 1913.

Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

FT glqa 5 wmQM Q? amw ela {543% 0. 7 mm fi THE NORRIS PETERS CO" PHOIU-LITHO" WASHINGTON. D. C

GEORGE F. GEB, or FnANKLIm AssAoH sErrs.

GEARING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 6, 1915.

Application filed January 9, 1913. Serial No. 740,989.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE F. GEB, a

citizen of the United States, and resident of Franklin, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Gearing, of which the following is aspecification.

The so-called Apperly feeder which cards cotton or wool fibers comprises a pair of cooperative feed rolls by which the fibers are fed to the licker-in. The atmosphere of a carding room is laden with loose particles of lint which are'm'ore or less laden with oil. This lint becomes packed between the teeth of the spur gears which hitherto have been employed for driving the aforesaid feed rolls. These gears are disposed close to one edge of the feed apron, and bunches of fibers frequently drop from the apron and lodge in the gears. At times this congestion of fibers between the teeth of'the gears becomes so great that the crowns of the gear teeth do not have any clearance,the result being that the shafts upon which the gears are mounted are forced apart, straining their bearings and rendering rotation extremely diflicult. This also separates the feed rolls to .such extent that the stock is permitted to go through unevenly and too.

rapidly. The deposit of fibers between the teeth is cumulative, the teeth themselves acting to pack the fibers more and more densely, while the oil in the fibers acts as a binder so that the accumulated fibers become in eflect a hard, solid mass. In order to remove these hardened deposits it is necessary to use a sharp instrument such as a nail, and a hammer, and of course the carding machine must be stopped while the deposit is being removed.

I have devised gearsof special construction for obviating the aforesaid accumulation of lint, the construction and arrangement of which gears is illustrated by the accompanying drawings and described in detail in the following specification.

Of the drawings: Figure 1 represents a vertical section including portions of the frame of a carding machine, the feed rolls of such machine, and my improved gears for transmitting rotation from one feed roll to the other. Fig. 2 represents an end elevation of the said gears partly broken and in cross section. Fig. 3 represents a side elevation of one gear and a sectional view of the other. 1

The same reference characters indicate the same parts wherever they occur.-

It should be understood that the invention is shown with a carding machine solely for the sake of illustration, and that it is not my intention to limit it to any one machine but that it is adaptedto beused'and will carry out the purpose for which it is intended wherever it is necessary to avoid the accumulation of lint, dirt or other material between the teeth of gears. i

Referring to Fig. 1, the two side frame members ofa carding machine are indicated at 10, 10. The'lower feed roll is indi-, cated at 11 and the upper feed roll at 12. These rolls are secured to shafts 13 and 1 1 respectively, and the shafts are mounted in bearings 15 affixed to the frame members 10. One of the roll shafts is driven by the other, and it is usual in machines of this kind to impart rotation to the shaft of the lower roll and to transmit such rotation from the lower roll to the upper roll. In

accordance with this practice the roll 13 as shown is provided with a gear 16 by which the shaft is rotated. Such rotation is trans mittedto the shaft 14 by cooperative gears 17 and 18. The novelty of this invention is embodied in the constructionand arrangement of the last-mentioned gears.

The gear 17 is formed with an annular flange 20 whose interior surface 21 is ta pered for a purpose hereinafter explained. This flange is provided with a series of openings 22 which are separated from each other by bridge portions 23 extending parallel to the axis of rotation. The openings 22 and bridge portions 23 give the gear the general character of the well known lantern pinion or cage gear; but it is to be observed that in the present instance this gear is open at one end. It will also be observed that the diameter of the tapering surface 21 is larger at the open end. The shaft 13 extends through the cup-like chamber within the flange 20. Lint and other substances which may accumulate in the openings 22 and in the annular chamber surrounding the shaft are discharged at the open end of the gear, a suflicient space, indicated at 24 in Fig. 1,

.being left between the gear andthe roll 11 tapering formation of the surface 21. If undesirable substances accumulate within the gear 17 to such extent as to be closely packed by the teeth of the gear 18, the pressure upon the surface 21 will cause such substances to move toward the open end of the gear and be discharged therefrom.

The gear of the upper feed roll in a card-- ing machine is above the upper surface of the feed apron and the gear of the lower feed roll is below such surface. Consequently when a bunch of fibers drops from the feed apron it will cling to the lower gear if it clings to either of the gears. For this reason'l prefer to arrange the cage gear 17 below the toothed gear 18 because the at tendants frequently pick off such bunches of fibers while the machines are running, and their fingers sometimes get caught by the teeth of spur gears and are carried between the teeth which are meshing. The cage gear has no projections and may therefore he touched without so much danger or" crushing the fingers. 7

Having thus explained the nature of my said invention and described a way of constructing and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all the forms in which it may be made or all the modes of its use, what I claim is:

1. In combination, a cup-shaped gear open at one end, the exterior thereof being cylindric and the interior being frusto-conical with the larger diameter at said open end, said gear having a circular series of to0threceiving holes extending radially through its annular wall, and a spur-toothed gear arranged outside said cup-shaped gear so that its teeth coaet with said holes in said cup-shaped gear, the axes of said gears being parallel.

2. A cup-shaped gear having an annular wall, the internal surface of which fiares toward the open end, said annular wall having a circular series of holes extending radially therethrough to receive the teeth of a spur-toothed gear, said holes being separated from each other by bridge portions extending parallel to the axis of said wall and adapted to engage the teeth of such spurtoothed gear, said bridge portions tapering in cross-section toward the peripheral surface of said wall.

In testimony whereof I have a'lfixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE F. GEE.

l/Vitnesses WV. P. ABELL, P. W. Pnzznr'rr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

